ADA members are invited to share their expertise and insight on the evaluation of potentially malignant disorders in the oral cavity.

An expert panel of ADA member volunteers and staff from the ADA Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry is updating the clinical practice guideline on this subject that was published in The Journal of the American Dental Association in 2010.

The panel is asking the public to review and comment on the guideline's recommendation statements. The recommendations are available to view online at ADA.org/oralcancer.

Contributors should submit comments by May 1 so that panel members can review the comments as they further develop the guideline, which is expected to be published later this year with an accompanying systematic review in JADA.

The panel's aim is for the guideline to serve as a valuable resource for dental professionals by providing some clarity and guidance on the evaluation of potentially malignant disorders in the oral cavity, said Dr. Mark Lingen, panel chair, and an oral and maxillofacial pathologist and professor of pathology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

"There has been an explosion of commercial adjunctive devices/tests that are specifically marketed to dental professionals. However, there is considerable uncertainty among dentists regarding the clinical utility of these tests and how they might be integrated into existing examinations," said Dr. Lingen. "It is our hope that these recommendations will aid dental professionals in deciding how best to evaluate the patients we are charged with caring for."